Last night was our annual Christmas caroling outing – postponed from Sunday afternoon because of the bitter cold- and I am so glad we waited. It proved to be a perfect night to be out and about, with gentle snowfall, no wind, and temperatures that made it feel like Wisconsin rather than Antarctica. (There’s something a little too odd about Christmas caroling when it’s 53 degrees outside – not that we’ve had that ‘problem’ in the last several years.) By our calculations. this merry band has been doing this for fifteen years, minus a couple of years when we inexplicably failed to get our act together until it was much too late. (I suppose we could have switched to Arbor Day caroling, but that would have meant learning all new songs.)
Among the highlights: As we were making our way to our first stop, Lorelai leaned over to her mom and said that it would be nice if we caroled at her babysitter’s house – which was one of the best ideas of the whole night. So we altered our itinerary (thank goodness for cell phones) and made Jane our first stop – and what a delightful surprise we managed to deliver to her doorstep- Lorelai and ten of her closest friends and family members, singing “Deck the Halls.” And throughout the evening, what turned out to be especially fun was to hear the young voices of Lorelai and Scotty and Aaron joining in with such gusto- although I’m pretty sure that Lorelai sang with special enthusiasm at her babysitter’s house.
Several of the other stops – like to Dr. Sjoerdsma, former chairman of the music department – are regular stops for us, year after year. But a couple of others were new to us this year, like our stop at Steve and Marie Torcaso, who operate the Italian American Club here in town – and whose children have been students of Polly’s and also of mine at Carthage. They are such good people, and we just happened to be in their neighborhood, so we stopped by – and in typical Torcaso fashion, they insisted that we come on in and warm up a bit with some hot chocolate, which really hit the spot. And also in typical Torcaso fashion, as we hesitated in the doorway, wanting to really stomp our snow-covered boots on the welcome mat, Steve practically dragged us into the house, saying “it’s only snow!” It was so much more important to him that we come on him and make ourselves comfortable than that we spend five minutes getting the snow off of our shoes. That says something about his priorities – and it’s just one more reason why I like him so much.
A couple of things stand out as I think about this and other carol outings… and for some reason I am especially mindful of how different one house might be from the next one. We sang in one incredibly beautiful home that a lot of people would call a small mansion – and we have also sung in some places that are tiny and plain and nothing to look at. We have sung in homes where joy and laughter seem to reverberate in the walls – and other homes where there is a powerful sense of sadness and loss, either from terminal illness or loss of job or recent divorce. Sometimes we show up and the person has a houseful of company over – and in other cases, we are visiting someone who is all alone and it feels like we are the first company they have had in a long, long time. What is interesting to me is how in all of those different settings, the simple word of the Christmas story seems to be welcome – and makes a difference. No matter who you are or in what circumstances you find yourself, “let every heart prepare Him room.”
pictured above: this is a shot of us caroling at the home of Lorelai’s babysitter. That’s Lorelai in the center of the picture, with a pink jacket on and cute-looking hat..